A good free virus scan and removal program...

[chabooky386]

I believe I am having these pop up ads that are seeming to be taking over my computer... Its getting quite annoying now...

[canon_fire]

google "VundoFix". Load it, run it, see if it fixes some of the issues. Also "AVG Free" works pretty decently.

[thomascanty]

Popups are caused by spyware, not viruses. Look for Spybot Search & Destroy and AdAware.

[Radtech1]

I use Spyware Doctor by PC Tools.

http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/

Ok, so it is not free, but it is by far the most thorough of all that I have tried/read reviews of. The cost is a very manageable 29.99 (US dollars).

HOWEVER, it causes a huge performance hit! My Toshiba laptop executed program open/closes at about twice the time as before.

But it IS good.

Rad

[DVS_WiNdz]

google "VundoFix". Load it, run it, see if it fixes some of the issues. Also "AVG Free" works pretty decently.

AVG free works great, I've been using it for a really long time and I've had no trouble with viruses or anything.

[CyberDyneSystems]

AVG works so well, I think I will buy it soon..
It's the best anti virus for those of us that do not want an app that sucks up system resources and bogs things down. AVG you never know it's there except for a few seconds at start up.

Get the AVG anti virus,. AND the new AVG Spyware filter,.
Then get Lavasofts adaware, and Spy Bot search and destroy.
All free.. and with them you are covered.

[In2Photos]

AVG works so well, I think I will buy it soon..
It's the best anti virus for those of us that do not want an app that sucks up system resources and bogs things down. AVG you never know it's there except for a few seconds at start up.

Get the AVG anti virus,. AND the new AVG Spyware filter,.
Then get Lavasofts adaware, and Spy Bot search and destroy.
All free.. and with them you are covered.
This is what I have. I use AVG's free AV software and love it after being a Symantec user for so long. I also have tried their Spyware which was also very nice, but after 30 days you have to manually update it unless you buy it (which I would have done but I found that I don't need Spyware software as much as I thought). I also have Lavasoft's Adware.

[cosworth]

NOD32 or Avast! are great. Avast is free and I use it.

[PhotosGuy]

I use AVG's free AV software and love it Me, too. And FireFox (browser) has some nice anti-popup features.

[kevin_c]

NOD32 or Avast! are great. Avast is free and I use it.

Another vote for NOD32 (stupid name!) from ESET

[rhys]

AVG works so well, I think I will buy it soon..
It's the best anti virus for those of us that do not want an app that sucks up system resources and bogs things down. AVG you never know it's there except for a few seconds at start up.

Get the AVG anti virus,. AND the new AVG Spyware filter,.
Then get Lavasofts adaware, and Spy Bot search and destroy.
All free.. and with them you are covered.

Another vote for AVG and adaware

[rhys]

Another vote for NOD32 (stupid name!) from ESET

Dunno. The version my ex-boss (and hence why I quit that company) was blatantly pirated and didn't update all that well.

[kevin_c]

Dunno. The version my ex-boss (and hence why I quit that company) was blatantly pirated and didn't update all that well.

Mines not pirated and checks for updates every hour...

[Eagle]

AVG Pro anti-virus
Lavasoft Adaware
SpyBot Search and Destroy
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
ZoneAlarm Pro firewall
Firefox

AVG and ZA run always.
Adaware, Spybot run manually about once a month.
CCleaner run manually every couple of months.
Firefox 98% of my internet time.

I might get a pop-up window about once or twice a month.

[sceee1991]

Begin with ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.org), follow with Ad Aware Free (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/), then Spybot Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/), and then Windows Defender (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx). Finally, install AVG Free (http://free.grisoft.com) and run it. It may seem like overkill to do all these scans, especially when the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seem the same, but they each look for spyware/adware differently and one may catch what the other misses. Even though the pop-ups are likely spyware/adware, if you have that, you also are probably infected with a trojan or virus. AVG may not get rid of some trojans, but it will most likely do the trick. After you get this done, consider SpywareGuard (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html) and more importantly, Spyware Blaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/sbdownload.html). After this, you will probably feel like you have a new computer. Last of all, consider Comodo Firewall (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/) (I used to recommend Zone Alarm, but I am finding Comodo to be better) and Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/).

[DVS_WiNdz]

AVG Pro anti-virus
Lavasoft Adaware
SpyBot Search and Destroy
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)
ZoneAlarm Pro firewall
Firefox

AVG and ZA run always.
Adaware, Spybot run manually about once a month.
CCleaner run manually every couple of months.
Firefox 98% of my internet time.

I might get a pop-up window about once or twice a month.

I'm using all those except for ZoneAlarm and instead of AVG Pro I'm using Free and they all work great

[Eagle]

I'm using all those except for ZoneAlarm and instead of AVG Pro I'm using Free and they all work great
I use the pro versions on my main PC, the second pc in the house and my laptop has AVG free and Windows firewall and all works great there too.

[pumbaa]

I'm using all those except for ZoneAlarm and instead of AVG Pro I'm using Free and they all work great

Ditto. Got all that lot on both laptops and have no issues. I've always found Firefox to be much better than IE at reducing popups, generally.

[NathanJT]

Prevx CSI (http://www.prevx.com/)

[Bootsie]

I need a new system as well, I am currently using AOL as my browser, but I think I am going to change that. It is the security edition of AOL that has all the virus stuff built in, it does a quick check everyday and a full scan weekly. I am looking for something similar, but that doesn't take up a ton of space and resources.

I want something that I can install and will update itself automatically (or that i can update very easily) and that that will run automatically (or is easy). I do not want a bunch of different programs that I have to run each one every time.

Free would be best, but cheap is ok as well.

Any suggestions?

[thomascanty]

Any suggestions?

AVG Free. It's been recommended several times in this thread already. It's one of the best...

[cosworth]

I have avast! on all my boxes and my family's boxes. Life seem pretty quiet on the tech support front for me.

My sister gets a drag and drop NON iPod for christmas for a reason. Software support for my family is not in the cards.

[amironsi]

adware....

[cosworth]

With Avast! I don't run an adware program.

[DocFrankenstein]

I got a free norton package because I'm using rogers.

Also a pro flickr account and 900kbs download speed.

[Tareq]

Get Mac, hehe, kidding. :D

I use PC so long time and i am sure all did longer time than me and faced all that problems, i faced not just viruses or spywares, i also faced failures of my system and many damaged.
My wife PC [used old IBM but with XP] had many problems now and i asked on some sites about the solutioms, and many advised me if it is virus/spy issues to use AVG or NOD32 as AV and Spybot S&D or AdAware as spyware removal and all are free unless going for paid for more options or features, i was using Mcafee and Kaspersky and Norton and PC Cillian and they all great but have some issues [like few can't protect full, so heavy on PC, activation messages, updating alot and so].

for Popup i was using POPUP killer or similar programs, delete many unwanted files in your PC mostly after that history filled bu IE or another internet browser, check your defragement, try some of that maintenance programs, it can fix some problems if not all and you can use it for a while then uninstall it if it eats RAM.

Good luck with your PC, it is now better with me after i use my new Mac and get rid of many softwares on my PC to keep it more cleaner ;)

[cosworth]

You still get plenty of trojans and adware with Mac. Don't be fooled.

http://www.sophos.com/products/enterprise/endpoint/security-and-control/mac/

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2203925/mac-mail-flaw-resurfaces

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2004/04/63000

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071101-rsplug-a-mac-os-x-trojan-a-new-threat-but-the-sky-is-not-falling.html

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/mac-users-get-a.html

The list goes on and on...

[Tareq]

You still get plenty of trojans and adware with Mac. Don't be fooled.

http://www.sophos.com/products/enterprise/endpoint/security-and-control/mac/

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2203925/mac-mail-flaw-resurfaces

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2004/04/63000

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071101-rsplug-a-mac-os-x-trojan-a-new-threat-but-the-sky-is-not-falling.html

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/mac-users-get-a.html

The list goes on and on...

and still many people saying that Mac is better and more safer in protection and security issues, i heard too that Mac can get those threats as well but not as much as PC and maybe not that hard damage it causing to Mac as PCs, all said it is more stable than PC, so that doesn't mean we should put Mac and PC in same league in many things, I downloaded some softwares [Mac versions] when i got Mac and i checked them on my PC and i found one of them infected already but worked fine on my MC, i will try and install AV on my Mac to see if that is true, and my Mac is working like a rocket never affected with some files i installed so far.
Did you use Mac before? i am sure you used many long time with that money you got to get 1Ds2 or MKIII so i am sure you experimented Mac before,so did you have some problems on Mac in virus or spy or any threats so far? would like to know that to be more careful and avoid it if possible.